Parental expressions of love in Chinese American immigrant families: Implications for children's attachment security.

Harlow's seminal work on the nature of attachment focused on the importance of warm, responsive, and loving relationships in children's healthy development. While the need for love and care is arguably universal, the ways in which these emotions are expressed can vary across cultural contexts. We examined how Chinese American parents' expressions of love were associated with children's attachment security. A total of 110 Chinese American immigrant parent-child dyads (children 7-11 years old, 49% girls) participated in 3-min conversations in which parents were instructed to communicate love and care. Proposition-level analyses in speech (total 8825 propositions) identified three types of affection: training (guan and chiao shun); relational affection (qin); and validation (acceptance and encouragement of child's own expression of emotion, thoughts, and behaviors). Higher training was observed in parents with lower American orientation and lower income. Higher relational affection was observed in parents with lower income. Higher validation was observed in parents with higher income. Using path analyses, training and validation were found to be positively associated with children's attachment security beyond parenting styles. Effects of parents' relational affection were moderated by children's American orientation. Results demonstrate how immigrant parents draw on multiple cultural scripts to express love and care. These findings expand traditional concepts of parental love in immigrant families and illustrate how bicultural expressions of love can shape attachment security in middle childhood. A video abstract of this article can be viewed at https://youtu.be/HqUfIDxkFsE RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: Analyses of parent-child discussions identified three parental affection styles (i.e., training, relational affection, and validation) as expressions of love and care in Chinese American immigrant families. Training and validation were positively associated with children's attachment security. Relational affection was associated with lower attachment security for children with higher American cultural orientation, suggesting the effects of parent-child expressions of love are shaped by acculturation.

Preliminary efficacy of AWARE in college health service centers: A group psychotherapy intervention for Asian American women.

ObjectiveAsian Women's Action for Resilience and Empowerment (AWARE) is a psychotherapy intervention designed to improve the mental health of Asian American women. This study documented the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of AWARE at three university health service centers in Massachusetts. Participants: 174 female Asian American college/graduate students were screened, and 48 (64%) met the eligibility criteria and enrolled in the study. Methods: This study was a non-randomized, pre-post design at three university/college health service centers in Massachusetts. Retention rates and changes in depression, anxiety, and PTSD symptoms were measured. Results: Results demonstrated high feasibility and significant preliminary efficacy of AWARE across the sites. After the completion of AWARE, participants showed statistically and clinically significant reduction of depression, anxiety, and PTSD symptoms (p-values <.001). Conclusions: This study provides strong evidence that AWARE can be successfully implemented in university settings and provides a promising model of mental health treatment for Asian American women.

Self-Regulatory Development in Children from Chinese Immigrant Families: Evidence for Commonality and Specificity.

A central theme of acculturative specificity is the heterogeneity of the immigrant experience. This study integrated this application of the Specificity Principle with intergenerational transmission models of self-regulation and identified both common and specific pathways in the self-regulatory development of Chinese American children in immigrant families (N = 169, Mage = 9.2 years). Consistent with intergenerational transmission models, results indicated associations between parents' and children's effortful control, with the mediation of these associations via authoritarian parenting. Parental education, family income, and children's bilingual proficiency were also uniquely associated with children's executive function and effortful control. Together, findings provide new directions for research with ethnic minority immigrant families, and underscore the utility of within-group approaches in advancing research on ethnic minority children's development.

Depressive symptoms in Chinese immigrant mothers: Relations with perceptions of social status and interpersonal support.

OBJECTIVES: The present study examined how English proficiency, aspects of social status (education, income, and shifts in subjective social status), and interpersonal support were directly and indirectly associated with variations in depressive symptoms among Chinese immigrant mothers. METHOD: Individual semistructured interviews and questionnaires were administered to 257 first-generation Chinese immigrant mothers in the United States (Mage = 37.87 years). Participants reported on their English proficiency, perceived shifts in subjective social status, income, education, and levels of interpersonal support. Depressive symptoms were assessed through semistructured individual interviews using a measure previously developed and validated with Chinese American immigrant adults. RESULTS: Path analyses indicated that participants' perceived upward shifts in subjective social status, higher levels of interpersonal support, and higher annual household income were associated with fewer depressive symptoms. Associations between English proficiency and participants' depressive symptoms were mediated by shifts in subjective social status, income, and interpersonal support. CONCLUSION: Chinese immigrant mothers' perceptions of postmigration changes in subjective social status and the availability of interpersonal support play important roles in their mental health, even accounting for objective indicators of socioeconomic status. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Examination of the associations between young children's trauma exposure, trauma-symptomatology, and executive function.

The present study used a bioecological framework to examine associations between trauma exposure, trauma-related symptomatology, and executive function (EF) in an urban sample of 88 predominantly ethnic-minority, low-income preschoolers (age 2-5) exposed to interpersonal trauma. Contrary to hypotheses based on past literature documenting associations between trauma exposure and EF deficits in childhood, in regressions adjusting for child gender, family income, and caregiver education, neither trauma exposure or trauma-related symptoms (post-traumatic stress symptoms, internalizing behaviors, or externalizing behaviors) were significantly associated with children's EF performance. Associations between child trauma exposure, symptomatology, and executive function were not moderated by parental PTSD symptomatology; and EF was not differentially predicted by type of trauma. Results suggest that, within an ethnically-diverse sample of preschool-aged children exposed to multiple traumas, associations between trauma exposure, symptomatology, and EF may be particularly nuanced. Keywords: child trauma, posttraumatic stress, executive function, preschool-age children, child mental health.

Child and caregiver executive function in trauma-exposed families: Relations with children's behavioral and cognitive functioning.

Children's executive function (EF) may be negatively affected by their exposure to traumatic events. However, few investigations have examined the relations between EF and the associated developmental outcomes of young children exposed to trauma. Likewise, although growing evidence highlights intergenerational associations between caregiver and child EF, these associations remain unexplored among preschool-aged children exposed to trauma. The current study used a multimethod approach to test the direct and indirect associations of children's trauma symptomatology, caregiver and child EF, and children's concurrent behavioral and cognitive functioning in a sample of trauma-exposed, preschool-aged children (N = 109; Mage = 52.11 months, SD = 12.19) and their caregivers. Results indicated positive associations between children's trauma symptomatology and their behavior problems, positive associations between caregiver and child performance on tasks of EF, and positive associations between children's EF and a latent factor of cognitive functioning indicated by children's performance on standardized tests of IQ and receptive vocabulary. However, the hypothesized indirect effects of caregiver and child EF were not supported. Implications for clinical interventions with young children and families exposed to trauma are discussed.

Establishing a Parenting Program for Transnationally Separated Chinese Immigrant Families: Community-Based Pilot Program.

Children who experience transnational separation (TS) from their parents, often referred to as "satellite babies," endure a relatively common but underdiscussed experience. To date, no evaluations of clinical interventions to specifically support transnationally separated families have been described. This column describes implementation of a group therapy pilot program for parents to address parenting and emotional concerns related to TS at a social services agency in Boston's Chinatown. Parent and therapist interviews indicated increased skills in negotiating parental feelings of guilt, shame, and regret caused by TS. These insights can guide practitioners and researchers who wish to address family separation in their communities.

Cultural Values, Social Status, and Chinese American Immigrant Parents' Emotional Expressivity.

Cultural values and social status are two salient factors in the psychological experiences of immigrant families, and both have been associated with immigrant parents' patterns of emotional expression in previous studies. The present study examined how endorsement of cultural values (collectivism and conformity) and social status were uniquely associated with immigrant parents' emotional expressivity in the family. First-generation Chinese American immigrant parents (N = 239, 80% mothers; M = 41.31 years old) of elementary-age children reported on their endorsement of values of collectivism and conformity, their patterns of emotional expressivity in the family context, and their family income and education levels. Path analyses indicated unique positive associations between family income and all domains of parents' emotional expressivity and negative associations between family income and parents' endorsement of collectivism and conformity. Parents' endorsement of collectivism was negatively associated with negative-dominant expressivity. We discuss implications of our findings for theories of culture and emotion, as well as for future intersectional approaches with Asian American populations.

Longitudinal relations of cultural orientation and emotional expressivity in Chinese American immigrant parents: Sociocultural influences on emotional development in adulthood.

Research in developmental psychology has traditionally focused on parents' roles as agents of emotion socialization in their children's socioemotional development. By contrast, little longitudinal research has examined sociocultural mechanisms shaping parents' own emotional development. Immigrant parents are an ideal population in which to examine these processes and advance conceptual models of culture and continuing emotional development in adulthood. Using developmental functionalism and bioecological models of development as theoretical frameworks, the present study examined how immigrant parents' and children's cultural orientations were prospectively related to parents' self-reported emotional expressivity in the family context. Chinese American immigrant parents (n = 210) with elementary-aged children were assessed at two time points approximately 2 years apart. Path analyses using longitudinal panel models indicated that immigrant parents' cultural orientation in various cultural domains (language, social relationships, media) prospectively predicted their emotional expressivity in the family context. Parents' emotional expressivity was also predicted by children's cultural orientation and by discrepancies between their own and their children's cultural orientations. Our results underscore pathways through which immigrants' interactions with the family and broader sociocultural context can contribute to continued emotional development in adulthood. We discuss implications of our findings for developmentally informed approaches to the study of culture and emotion. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

How generalizable is the inverse relationship between social class and emotion perception?

Compared to individuals in lower positions of power, higher-power individuals are theorized to be less motivated to attend to social cues. In support of this theory, previous research has consistently documented negative correlations between social class and emotion perception. Prior studies, however, were limited by the size and diversity of the participant samples as well as the systematicity with which social class and emotion perception were operationalized. Here, we examine the generalizability of prior research across 10,000+ total participants. In an initial modest sample, (n = 179), Study 1 partially replicated past results: emotion identification correlated negativity with subjective social class (ß = -0.15, 95% CI = [-0.28,-0.02]) and one of two objective social class measures (participant education ß = -0.15, 95% CI = [-0.03,-0.01]). Studies 2-4 followed up on Study 1's mixed results for objective social class in three much larger samples. These results diverged from past literature. In Study 2, complex emotion identification correlated non-significantly with participant education (ß = 0.02, p = 0.25; 95% CI = [-0.01, 0.05], n = 2,726), positively with childhood family income (ß = 0.03, 95% CI = [0.01,0.06], n = 4,312), and positively with parental education (ß = 0.06, 95% CI = [0.04,0.09], n = 4,225). In Study 3, basic emotion identification correlated positively with participant education (ß = 0.05, 95% CI = [0.02, 0.09]), n = 2,564). In Study 4, basic emotion discrimination correlated positively with participant education (ß = 0.09, 95% CI = [0.05,0.13], n = 2,079), positively with parental education (ß = 0.06, 95% CI = [0.02,0.09], n = 3,225), and non-significantly with childhood family income (ß = 0.2, 95% CI = [0.01,0.07], n = 3,272). Results remained similar when restricting analyses to U.S.-based participants. Taken together, these findings suggest that previously reported negative correlations between emotion perception and social class may generalize poorly past select samples and/or subjective measures of social class. Data from the three large web-based samples used in Studies 2-4 are available at osf.io/jf7r3 as normative datasets and to support future investigations of these and other research questions.

Heritage Language Socialization in Chinese American Immigrant Families: Prospective Links to Children's Heritage Language Proficiency.

Though a number of language socialization processes are theorized to promote children's heritage language proficiency (HLP), little research has considered these processes in a single study and examined their prospective relations to multiple domains of HLP in school-age children. In a two-wave longitudinal study of Chinese American children of immigrant parents (N = 258, age = 7-11 years), language socialization processes (e.g., adult HL use at home, parental attitudes towards HL, child participation in HL classes or extracurricular activities) were assessed using parent reports and behavioral observation at Time 1 (1st to 2nd grade). Children's HLP (Cantonese or Mandarin) was assessed using vocabulary and literacy tests at Time 2. Results of structural equation modeling showed that adults' Chinese language use with children at home predicted children's higher Chinese receptive and expressive vocabulary two years later, and children's participation in Chinese language extra-curricular activities predicted their higher Chinese receptive and expressive vocabulary and higher Chinese word reading. By contrast, parental valuing of Chinese language and children's exposure to Chinese media did not predict children's Chinese proficiency. These findings provided support for the benefits of HL use at home and HL classes in promoting HL development in children in immigrant families.

Chinese American immigrant parents' emotional expression in the family: Relations with parents' cultural orientations and children's emotion-related regulation.

The present study examined 2 measures of Chinese American immigrant parents' emotional expression in the family context: self-reported emotional expressivity and observed emotional expression during a parent-child interaction task. Path analyses were conducted to examine the concurrent associations between measures of emotional expression and (a) parents' American and Chinese cultural orientations in language proficiency, media use, and social affiliation domains, and (b) parents' and teachers' ratings of children's emotion-related regulation. Results suggested that cultural orientations were primarily associated with parents' self-reported expressivity (rather than observed emotional expression), such that higher American orientations were generally associated with higher expressivity. Although parents' self-reported expressivity was only related to their own reports of children's regulation, parents' observed emotional expression was related to both parents' and teachers' reports of children's regulation. These results suggest that self-reported expressivity and observed emotional expression reflect different constructs and have differential relations to parents' cultural orientations and children's regulation.

Variations on the bilingual advantage? Links of Chinese and English proficiency to Chinese American children's self-regulation.

The present study examined whether bilingualism-related advantages in self-regulation could be observed: (a) among Chinese American immigrant children with varying levels of Chinese and English proficiencies, and (b) across different domains of self-regulation in laboratory, home, and classroom contexts. A socioeconomically diverse sample of first- and second-generation Chinese American immigrant children between ages 7 and 10 (n = 223) was administered assessments of Chinese and English language proficiencies and a multi-method, multi-informant battery of self-regulation measures. Multiple regression analyses suggested that controlling for covariates (child age, gender, and SES), children's bilingualism-related advantages were limited to higher performance only on computerized tasks of cognitive flexibility, and only among children with higher degrees of fluency in both Chinese and English. By contrast, proficiencies in one language (either Chinese or English) were uniquely and positively associated with other domains of self-regulation, including parent and teacher-reported effortful control. These results suggest that the bilingual advantage for self-regulation may be observed as a continuous variable among immigrant children with varying levels of bilingual fluency; however, this advantage may not extend across all domains and contexts of self-regulation.

Adverse childhood experiences and leukocyte telomere maintenance in depressed and healthy adults.

BACKGROUND: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with poor physical and mental health outcomes in adulthood. Adverse childhood experiences are also associated with shortened leukocyte telomere length (LTL) in adults, suggesting accelerated cell aging. No studies have yet assessed the relationship of ACEs to LTL in individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD), despite the high incidence of antecedent ACEs in individuals with MDD. Further, no studies in any population have assessed the relationship of ACEs to the activity of telomerase, the major enzyme responsible for maintaining LTL, or the relationship between telomerase and LTL in individuals with ACEs. METHODS: Twenty healthy, unmedicated adults with MDD and 20 healthy age-, sex- and ethnicity-matched controls had ACEs assessed and had blood drawn for LTL and peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) resting telomerase activity. RESULTS: In healthy controls, greater ACE exposure was associated with shorter LTL (p<.05) but was unassociated with telomerase activity. In MDD, however, the opposite pattern was seen: greater ACE exposure was unrelated to LTL but was associated with increased telomerase activity (p<.05) and with a higher telomerase:LTL ratio (p=.022). LIMITATIONS: Study limitations include the small sample size, a single timepoint assessment of telomerase activity, and the use of retrospective self-report to assess ACEs. CONCLUSIONS: These results replicate prior findings of shortened LTL in healthy adults with histories of multiple ACEs. However, in MDD, this relationship was substantially altered, raising the possibility that activation of telomerase in ACE-exposed individuals with MDD could represent a compensatory response to endangered telomeres.

Parent-child cultural orientations and child adjustment in Chinese American immigrant families.

Direct and indirect/mediated relations of (a) children's and parents' cultural orientations and (b) parent-child gaps in cultural orientations to children's psychological adjustment were examined in a socioeconomically diverse sample of 258 Chinese American children (age = 6-9 years) from immigrant families. Parents reported on children's and their own Chinese and American orientations in language proficiency, media use, and social relationships. Parents and teachers rated children's externalizing and internalizing problems and social competence. Using structural equation modeling, we found evidence for both the effects of children's and parents' cultural orientations and the effects of parent-child gaps. Specifically, children's American orientations across domains were associated with their better adjustment (especially social competence). These associations were partly mediated by authoritative parenting. Parents' English and Chinese media use were both associated with higher authoritative parenting, which in turn was associated with children's better adjustment. Furthermore, greater gaps in parent-child Chinese proficiency were associated with children's poorer adjustment, and these relations were partly mediated by authoritative parenting. Together, the findings underscore the complex relations between immigrant families' dual orientations to the host and heritage cultures and children's psychological adjustment.

Neighborhood characteristics, parenting styles, and children's behavioral problems in Chinese American immigrant families.

Using data from a socioeconomically diverse sample of Chinese American children (n = 258, aged 6-9 years) in immigrant families, we examined the concurrent relations among neighborhood economic disadvantage and concentration of Asian residents, parenting styles, and Chinese American children's externalizing and internalizing problems. Neighborhood characteristics were measured with 2000 U.S. Census tract-level data, parents (mostly mothers) rated their own parenting styles, and parents and teachers rated children's behavioral problems. Path analysis was conducted to test two hypotheses: (a) parenting styles mediate the relations between neighborhood characteristics and children's behavioral problems, and (b) children's behavioral problems mediate the relations between neighborhood and parenting styles. We found that neighborhood Asian concentration was positively associated with authoritarian parenting, which in turn was associated with Chinese American children's higher externalizing and internalizing problems (by parents' reports). In addition, neighborhood economic disadvantage was positively related to children's externalizing problems (by parents' reports), which in turn predicted lower authoritative parenting. The current results suggest the need to consider multiple pathways in the relations among neighborhood, family, and child adjustment, and they have implications for the prevention and intervention of behavioral problems in Chinese American children.

Teacher-child relationship quality and academic achievement of Chinese American children in immigrant families.

This study examined the cross-sectional relations between teacher-child relationship quality (TCRQ) and math and reading achievement in a socio-economically diverse sample of Chinese American first- and second-grade children in immigrant families (N=207). Teachers completed a questionnaire measuring TCRQ dimensions including closeness, conflict, and intimacy, and children completed a questionnaire measuring overall TCRQ. Standardized tests were used to assess children's math and reading skills. Analyses were conducted to (a) test the factor structure of measures assessing TCRQ among Chinese American children, (b) examine the associations between teacher- and child-rated TCRQ and children's academic achievement, controlling for demographic characteristics, and (c) examine the potential role of child gender as a moderator in the relations between TCRQ and achievement. Results indicated that teacher-rated TCRQ Warmth was positively associated with Chinese American children's reading achievement. Two child gender-by-TCRQ interactions were found: (a) teacher-rated TCRQ Conflict was negatively associated with girls' (but not boys') math achievement, and (b) child-rated Overall TCRQ was positively associated with boys' (but not girls') reading achievement. These findings highlight the valuable role of TCRQ in the academic success of school-aged children in immigrant families.

Family influences on mania-relevant cognitions and beliefs: a cognitive model of mania and reward.

OBJECTIVE: The present study proposed and tested a cognitive model of mania and reward. METHOD: Undergraduates (N = 284; 68.4% female; mean age = 20.99 years, standard deviation ± 3.37) completed measures of family goal setting and achievement values, personal reward-related beliefs, cognitive symptoms of mania, and risk for mania. RESULTS: Correlational analyses and structural equation modeling supported two distinct, but related facets of mania-relevant cognition: stably present reward-related beliefs and state-dependent cognitive symptoms in response to success and positive emotion. Results also indicated that family emphasis on achievement and highly ambitious extrinsic goals were associated with these mania-relevant cognitions. Finally, controlling for other factors, cognitive symptoms in response to success and positive emotion were uniquely associated with lifetime propensity towards mania symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Results support the merit of distinguishing between facets of mania-relevant cognition and the importance of the family in shaping both aspects of cognition.

Parents' Expression and Discussion of Emotion in the Multilingual Family: Does Language Matter?

Parents regularly use words to express and discuss emotion with their children, but does it matter which language they use to do so? In this article, we examine this question in the multilingual family context by integrating findings from both psychological and linguistic research. We propose that parents' use of different languages for emotional expression or discussion holds significant implications for children's emotional experience, understanding, and regulation. Finally, we suggest that an understanding of the implications of emotion-related language shifts is critical, particularly in adapting interventions within a rapidly diversifying society.

Parental Expressivity and Parenting Styles in Chinese Families: Prospective and Unique Relations to Children's Psychological Adjustment.

OBJECTIVES: Parents from different cultures differ in how frequently they express emotions. However, the generalizability of the relations between parental expressivity and child adjustment in non-Western cultures has not been extensively studied. The goal of the present study was to investigate prospective relations between parental expressivity within the family (positive, negative dominant, and negative submissive expressivity) and Chinese children's psychological adjustment, above and beyond parenting styles. DESIGN: The study used two waves (3.8 years apart) of longitudinal data from a sample (n= 425) of children in Beijing (mean ages = 7.7 years at T1 and 11.6 years at T2). Parental expressivity and parenting styles were self-reported. To reduce the potential measurement overlap, items that tap parental expression of emotions toward the child were removed from the parenting style measure. Children's adjustment was measured with parents', teachers', and peers' or children's reports. RESULTS: Consistent with findings with European American samples, parental negative dominant expressivity uniquely and positively predicted Chinese children's externalizing problems controlling for prior externalizing problems, parenting styles, and family SES. Neither parental expressivity nor parenting styles uniquely predicted social competence. CONCLUSIONS: Despite previously reported cultural differences in the mean levels of parental expressivity, some of the socialization functions of parental expressivity found in Western countries can be generalized to Chinese families. Although parental expressivity and parenting styles are related constructs, their unique relations to child's adjustment suggest that they should be examined as distinct processes.